Records tumbled in Auckland’s inner-city when renovated villas in Kingsland and Ponsonby sold at auctions this week.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom villa on Second Avenue in Kingsland sold for $2.86 million, $290,000 more than the suburb’s previous top price, set in May for a villa on the same street.
And a quirkily renovated 1880s cottage on Clarence Street in Ponsonby beat the previous street record, set three years ago, by $450,000 when the hammer went down at $3.83m.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Luke Dallow, who listed the Clarence Street property three weeks ago, said there was high-calibre interest and only qualified buyers – albeit that meant 13-hour days at the property to safely show buyers in the one-on-one viewings permitted under level 3.
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“People were looking for easy, low maintenance. This had a new pool, new kitchen, new cladding, new roof, beautiful new floors. It was awesome. We had seven bidders, that’s a lot at this price point and the auction went ballistic. Three people were bidding right to the end.”
The Clarence Street house had had a complete makeover, including a new pool, since it had last sold for $2m less three years ago. Photo / Supplied
The house, pre do-up, sold for $1.825m three years ago, but Dallow said the price confirmed that Ponsonby houses have crossed the $3m line now, with only apartments and duplexes selling for less.
“There’s nothing under $3m in this market. And for that you’d get a three-bed villa, not done up, on 350sqm of land," he said. "We’re getting the clients to understand the market, vendors are listening to the agent on where the value of the property is, based on honest feedback from buyers.
“They’re coming across from Remuera and eastern suburbs because they all want to be part of the cool club, and that's driving up demand.”
OneRoof figures show the average property value for the buzzy suburb is now $2.633m, up $600,000 on a year ago. But the last house to sell for under $3m was a smart three-bedroom bungalow on a tiny 273sqm site on Provost Street, which went for $2.735m in July.
The Ponsonby record was set in August when a two-bedroom house on a tiny corner site on Norfolk Street sold at auction for $5.3m, prompted by a pre-auction offer after only 10 days on the market.
A brand-new house wrapped around the tiny original corner cottage on Norfolk Street set the Ponsonby record at $5.3m in August. Photo / Supplied
The listing agent, Bayleys’ Robyn Clark, said the house was in a league of its own, with a sprawling 300sqm brand-new house designed around the tiny original cottage by award-winning architect Jack McKinney and Ponsonby developer Cameron Ireland.
The spillover is affecting Kingsland, on the other side of the northwestern motorway from Grey Lynn and Ponsonby. Average values in the formerly affordable suburb close to Eden Park have shot up 27% in the last year to $1.63m, with only about half the number of houses for sale as Ponsonby.
Ray White agent Dylan Tracey, who marketed the Second Avenue property, said the suburb was starting to come into its own.
Thirteen bidders drove the price of a villa on Second Avenue, Kingsland, to a suburb record $2.86m. Photo / Supplied
“Ponsonby and Grey Lynn are the big brothers, Kingsland is like the little brother," he said.
“But a lot of people prefer the Kingsland village feel, it’s more like Mount Eden, you’ve got a good community and the train station right there. And you don’t get a tandem garage and three off-street carparks in Ponsonby.”
Tracey fielded over 100 enquiries on the done-up villa, showing 49 people through the property, and 13 bidders registered for the auction, six of them on the morning of the auction.
A three-bedroom cottage with a self-contained studio on Home Street, Grey Lynn, sold for $2.73m. Photo / Supplied
“Those 12 who missed out, they’re all cash buyers, they’ve all got mid-$2m to $3m to spend. The final bidders were only $10,000 apart.”
At the Bayleys auctions this week, a small-but-perfectly formed three-bedroom cottage with a self-contained studio and off-street parking for two cars on Home Street, Grey Lynn sold for $2.73m, nearly $1m over what it had sold for two years ago. As well as giving a landscaping makeover to the property, the owners had converted an outbuilding to a fully self-contained space to make the most of the 308sqm section.
And in neighbouring Herne Bay, a three-bedroom apartment in the brand-new Jervois & Lawrence block on Jervois Road sold for $3.65m.
